Reel



A. FOUKAL Sept. 7, 193 7.

REEL

Filed Feb. 26, 1936 y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ANTHONY. Foz/KAL dna; MAJ

A. FOUKAL Sept. 7, 1937.

REEL

Filed Feb. 2e, 195e 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ANTHONY FOUKAL Patented Sept. ,7. 1,937L

.UNITED- STATES PATENT oFEicE REEL Antnnnyruukai, chienne, ohio, assigner to Truscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Michixan Application February 26, 1936, Serial No. 65,879

Claims'.

The Vpresent invention relates to metal reels and more particularly tol-eels oi the type that are used for lead covered or other cables, or other weight, to be capable of being shipped without unreasonable expense.

Another object of the invention is to provide' a reel which may be assembled from elements without the necessity of careful fabrication of such elements to accurate dimensions.

Still another object is to provide a reel which may be assembled easily-'and quickly, and in which all joints are readily available for assembly welding, examination, or repairs.

Another object is to provide means for securing the end of a cable after it has been wound upon the reel. Y.

'In the accompanying drawings:

Figurel is an'elevation of one end oi a preferred embodiment.

Figure 2'is an elevation partly broken away on the line 2-2 o Figure 1.

Figure -3 is a sectional view on the 4line 3-4 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is'a`perspective view of a 'sectionoi.'

the reel Vshowing the method of supporting the drum.

Figure 5 is a sectional view showing the meth- E od of joining the ends ofthe cable drum, on the une s sof Figure 2. E

Figure 6 is a. sectional view taken on the Vline 6-0 of Figure 1. E

i Figure 'I is a sectional view taken -on the line -1-1 of Figure 1, the structure being shown with the ,drum removed, in order'to cleariydisclose;

. the structureunderlying it. y

Figure 8 is an elevation showing the end of a modified structure.:

Figure 9 is a view in elevation partly in section, the section being taken on theline l9!i l oi' Figure 8. v i

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a portion of the end structure showing the method of supporting the drum.,

Figure 11 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through one end of one of the spokes. y

Figure 12 is a sectionalv'iew taken on the line .I2-I2 of Figure 11i. l .T I 55. Figure 13 is a. sectional View taken on the line la-l-la of Figure a, with the drum being omitted to show the underlying structure.

Describing the drawings more particularly the reel consists generally of an axle and a head mounted at each end. In the preferred embodiment, the heads are mounted upon an axle I4 which is preferably tubular. The axle performs two functions. It strengthens the structures and acts as a guide for a bar inserted through its hollow center for supporting the reel, for hoist- 10 ing it, or for reeling the contents. In each end of the axle I4 may be mounted a smaller hub portion I5 which may be tubular, and which advantageously may be of a size to afford a sleeve ilt with the interior of the axle i4, and which-'15 extends beyond the ends of the axle Il, the ends of which form shoulders i6. Mounted upon the hub portion l5 at each end oi the'axle is a plate il, shown here as being circular, but which may be of any suitable shape', and having a flat outer 20 surface I8. The plates I1 are butted against the shoulders I6 and secured both to the axle i4 andt'o the hub l5,vas by welds i9. 4A plurality of. spokes 2li have their end portionssecured. to the outer surface i8 of each 25 plate I1 and extend radially beyond the margins` of the-plates l1 to points adjacent the outside periphery of thereel. These spokes 20 are preferably secured to the plates by means of welding 2i. The spokes arel here shown of channel material, with the webs turned inwardly and the Vlegs extending outwardly, but they may be formed of any suitable metal structural shapes, including,'by way of example besides channels, any

form` of tubing, angle bars, orshaped bars, su ch 35 as I and T-bars.

At the outer ends of the spokes, they-are en gaged by and secured to,-as by welding at 22, reenforcing and rolling rims 23. A These rims which are circular may advantageously be made oi? angle bars, which as shown in cross section in Figure 2, have fiat outer surfaces and anges extending inwardly along the inner sides oi' the spokes 20. The outermost portions of the spokes are inset as shown at 2| in order to provide flush 45 joints with the inwardly extending flanges of the rims. The rolling rims 23 besides being formed of angie lbarsmay be made of channels; or any other vform of'angle having perpendicular members, such as T-bars or I-beams. 1 50 At a point between themargins of .the plates f i'l and the reenforclng and rolling-rim 23, members for spacing the heads on the reel and :for

-: supporting a'druin structure, are provided. These members are shown as being ilatf-sided rectangular bars 25, although they may be of suitable structural shapes, such as channels or round rods or tubing. The bars are secured, as by welding, at 26 to the opposite sides of each spoke, and they extend between the respective spokes of the two heads, thus acting to space the heads.

Upon the spokes which 4form each head of the drum, respectively, are mounted side shields 21. These side shields are in the form of flat annular rings and may be formed of two or more segmental sections 28 having their meeting ends 29 welded together. The shields 21 are mounted on the inner faces of the spokes 20 preferably by welding as at 30, and their outer margins extend substantially to the outer surfaces of the rims 23. From Figure 2 it will be seen that the shields 21 are flat between their margins, this being permitted by the flush joint between the spokes and the rims 23.

In order to mount a drum upon the members 25 between the heads, a plurality of rings 3| are mounted upon the outer surfaces of and surrounding the bars 25, these rings being shown here as round, but which may be of any other suitable structural shape capable of being formed into a circle. One of .the rings 3| is positioned adjacent the side shield 21 on each of the heads of the reel and the inner margin of each side shield may be bent inward and along the adjacent ring in the form of a flange 32 which may be tightly rolled around a portion of theV surface of the ring. The purpose of these flanges is to afford tight joints between the side shields and the drum'structure in order to isolate the cable receiving portion of the reel from the hollow center and prevent the entrance of dirt, grit and other abrasive elements which may otherwise sift through and abrade the lead or other protective covering of the cable while the reel is in transit or storage.

A substantially cylindrical drum 33 is secured about the rings 3|,l the outer surfaces of which it engages and to which it may be secured as by suitable welds 33h. The drum may be formed of In the modification shown in Figures 8-13v inclusive, the structure is substantially the same, with-the exception that the spokes 34 are formed of channels with-their webs 35 turned outwardly and their leg portions 36 engaging the plate I1 and the side shields 21.

Referring to Figure 9 it will be seen that the leg portions 36 of these channels may be cut away or deformed many suitable manner at 31 to afford a seat for the inwardly extending flanges of the rolling rims 33, and providing acon'tinuous flat surfacefor the side shields 21.v

In both modications means are provided for withdrawing the cable from thev reel. These means take the form of a slot 4l 'which is formed by a cut out portion of one of the side shields 21 and which extends outwardly from` the inner margin thereof. The slot 40 lies preferably equallyspaced from and between two of the spokes..

In order to guide the cable smoothly from the reel, and to prevent the lead or other sheathing from being damaged, an outwardly bent tongue 4| is provided at each end of the slot. 'Ihis tongue is formed from the material of the head 21, the latter being slittedfat 42 in order to permit' the tongue to be outwardly curved to form a guide.

as shown in Figures '1 and 13. A shield member 43 may be attached to the adjacent spokes in order to protect the end of the cable while a reel is in transit, and while it is not in actual use.

Means are provided for fastening the end of a cable, which has been wound on the reel. To this end in the reenforcing and rolling rims 23 there are punched holes 44, the edges of which are rounded off to prevent cutting. In certain of the spokes, as for example, every other one, are holes 45 for the reception of eye bolts 46. A rope or cord may be -attached to the end of a cable wound upon the reel and led out through one of the holes 44 and thereafter be led to and tied to the closest of the eye-bolts. The combination of the holes 44 and the eye-bolts 46 permits the end of a cable to be fastened at any point, and permits adjustment of the tension thereon, the eye-bolts 46 being provided with nuts 41, by means of which the position of the eyes may be adjusted. Loops 48 are also provided on certain of the spokes and a rope may be tied to one of these when it is not necessary to make an adjustment. The spokes at each side of the slot 40 are both provided with a loop 4B to which the end of a cable near or passing through thelslot may be fastened.

The chief advantage of the reel is its ease of construction which may be in the following manner. A plate |1 is laid on a fiat surface and surrounded by a rim such as 23 with an approximately even space between them. 'Ihe spokes thereafter are positioned with their outer ends butting against the flange of the rim and it will be seen that their length may vary inasmuch as there is ample space on the plate for welding them, and it is immaterial how close their ends extend to the hub as long as the space between the plate and rim is even and the spokes are sufficiently long to provide strong joints with the plate.

'I'he drum section is preferably assembled separately from the heads in the following manner.

. The rings 3| may be placed on a suitable jig, and

the sheet Aor plate which forms the drum 33 wrapped tightly around them. One end of the sheet is preferably inwardly displaced as shown in Figure at 33a to allow ailush joint to be made between it and the other end. This gives a strong joint in spite of any irregularity on the part of the drum due to variations in the rings. wrapping the drum around the rings, its ends may be suitably welded together and the sheet welded to the rings thus forming a substantially cylindrical structure.

The drum assembly, having been completed, it

may be assembled with the heads, which have been tightly clamped against its ends, by inserting .the bars 25 and positioning them tightly against the inner surfaces of the rings 3|, and welding them to the sides of the radial spokes 23 as at 23. The axle I4 and hubsv I5 may be in-A serted in the structure at the time of mounting the heads. The flanges 32 'of the heads may be rolledaround the end rings 3|. 'I'he formation of the tongues 4| from the material of the side shield obviates the necessity for forming a separate piece and securing it to the head.

By assembling ,this structure in this manner it will be readily seen that variations in the spacing of the heads, in the shape and size of the rings 3|, in the width of the drum proper, in the radial location of spokes, in the width of the spokes, in the centralV location of the drum assembly, and other similar irregularities, such as are common After to fabricated structures, will not be of great moment, since the bars 25 are so placed as to compensate and allow for the various assembly ir- 3 regularities thatmay exist on any'individual reel undergoing construction.

'I'he reel is strong due to the fact that the individual and component parts are so tied together that any shock or blow toany part of the reel is distributed to all of the various other parts, each one of which lends its particular strength to the whole.

'I'he ease with which the reels may be assembled, due both to the accessibility of the welded joints ,and to the fact that careful dimensioning and v shaping' of all of the elements is not necessary, materially reduces the cost of manufacturing a complete reel.'

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein described` invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

. What I claim, is:

1,. In a reel for cables, having a central drum, a ring for supporting the drum and located inside and closelyadjacent the end of the drum, a head having means for supporting the said ring, a side sl'ield mounted on the head and having a central aperture, and a flange on the inner margin of the sid shield extending inwardly inside of the ring .35 and closely-engaging the surface of the ring.

V 2. In a reel for cables having spaced heads, "spacing and supporting members extending between the heads, a 'ring closely, adjacent each of the heads and mounted on the outer sides of the throughout its length.

spacing and supporting members, adrummounted oriA the outer sides of the rings, and a 's'ide shield mounted on each of the heads and extending radially outward from the drum, aninwardly extending ange on each of the side shields engaged between the spacing and supporting members and v the rings supported by them.

3. In a reel for cable having spaced heads comprising each a plurality of at-sided radial metal spokes, a cylindrical drum mounted between the heads, and annular rings positioned within the drum for supporting it. means for supporting the rings and spacing the heads comprising metal bars having fiat sides, the flat sides ofI thesaid bars being welded to the nat outer sides of the spokes,

the heads, a plurality of bars extending respectivelybetween spokes ofthe respective heads, the vbars being welded tothe outer at sides of the spokes, between which they extend, and the drum being supported'at spaced intervals upon the bars.

5. In'areel for cables comprising spaced heads including'a plurality of radial ilat-sided spokes, 'and a cylindrical drum extending between the heads, a plurality of fiat-sided bars extending respectively between spokes of the respective heads,

the flat 'sides of the bars being seemed to the flat outer sides of the respective spokes between which they extend, and the ilat surface of each bar extending in substantially the same plane ANTHONY FoUKAL. 

